Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) Shares Cross Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) shares passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $2.10 and traded as high as $2.76. Cerus shares last traded at $2.73, with a volume of 1,174,045 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on CERS shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cerus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Cerus from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $4.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cerus in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Cerus from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cerus has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $4.00.

Cerus Trading Up 0.7%

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $2.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $2.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.63. The stock has a market cap of $547.01 million, a PE ratio of -54.60 and a beta of 1.62.

Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $59.89 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.68 million. Cerus had a negative return on equity of 15.18% and a negative net margin of 4.41%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Cerus Corporation will post -0.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Cerus

In related news, CFO Kevin Dennis Green sold 127,544 shares of Cerus stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.66, for a total value of $211,723.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,040,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,727,314.66. This trade represents a 10.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Chrystal Jensen sold 30,845 shares of Cerus stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.01, for a total value of $61,998.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 1,059,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,128,869.39. The trade was a 2.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 1,210,949 shares of company stock worth $2,156,291 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cerus

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CERS. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in Cerus by 15.3% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 37,051 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 4,916 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Cerus by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 507,455 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $924,000 after purchasing an additional 5,365 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Cerus by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 81,556 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $169,000 after purchasing an additional 6,094 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP boosted its stake in Cerus by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 142,958 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $294,000 after purchasing an additional 6,415 shares during the period. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR boosted its stake in Cerus by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 103,192 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $188,000 after purchasing an additional 6,651 shares during the period. 78.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cerus Company Profile

Cerus Corporation is a biomedical products company dedicated to enhancing the safety of blood transfusions worldwide. Its flagship offering, the INTERCEPT Blood System, employs pathogen reduction technology designed to inactivate a broad spectrum of viruses, bacteria, and parasites in donated platelets and plasma. This approach aims to mitigate the risk of transfusion-transmitted infections and improve blood component safety for patients.

The INTERCEPT platform integrates seamlessly into existing blood center workflows, providing a one-step treatment process for collected blood products.